Workplace ‘wellbeing’ programs don’t make employees happier – but I know what does | Andre Spicer

bOxen want you to be well, but they can make you sick. To help improve employee health, companies are doing everything they can, from helping employees quit smoking, offering diet plans and healthy eating, introducing yoga and exercise sessions, to installing bicycle-powered desks , giving employees apps that track their movements and sleep, providing therapists , taking employees on outdoor adventures and much more.

Companies around the world have been spending money $61.2 billion on wellness interventions in 2021. That amount is expected to grow to $94.6 billion by 2026. The problem is that most workplace wellness interventions cost money and take time, but have little or no impact on employee wellness. In some cases, they can even undermine well-being in the workplace. It turns out that the most effective way to improve employee mental health is to reduce stress, rather than adding new ways to cope.

A new study by William Fleming from the University of Oxford examines the impact of a wide range of workplace wellbeing interventions, such as stress management and mindfulness classes, and wellbeing apps. It turned out that almost none of these interventions had any statistically significant impact on employee well-being or job satisfaction. They did not improve employees’ sense of belonging at work or reduce perceived time pressure. They also did not make employees feel supported and did not improve workplace relationships. In some cases, wellbeing interventions appeared to make matters worse, the research suggested. For example, workplace resilience training and mindfulness training had a slightly negative effect on employee-rated mental health.

The Oxford study is not the only one to find that workplace wellbeing initiatives have a modest impact. a American study of nearly 33,000 employees working across 160 locations of a major warehousing company experienced similar lackluster effects. The researchers conducted a randomized control trial in which some employees received a workplace wellness intervention, while others did not. Employees who received the workplace wellness program were 8.3% more likely to say they exercised regularly and 13.6% more likely to say they tried to manage their weight.

However, after 18 months, the researchers found that there was no difference in clinical characteristics of physical health between those who received the wellness intervention and those who did not. There was also no significant difference in healthy behavior, healthcare expenditure, absenteeism, employment or work performance. When they returned three years after the intervention, so did they found it no difference in health levels between those who received the wellbeing intervention and those who did not.

The working practices of many organizations actually seem to discourage employee wellbeing. Jeffrey Pfeffer from Stanford University was part of a team what was looked at how many common workplace stressors result in poor health and even death. Based on the epidemiological evidence, they identified ten of the most common sources of workplace stress, including shift work, long working hours, job insecurity, work-life conflict, low job control, high work demands and a lack of support. When they examined the effect of these factors on the entire US population, they found that approximately 120,000 deaths per year could be due to these poor workplace practices. They also estimate that between 5% and 8% of US healthcare spending (or $175 billion to $280 billion) is determined by how companies manage their employees.

Although companies seem to be good at making their employees sick, the question remains what they do can do to help them feel better. Fleming points out that it is possible to improve employee well-being by focusing on more structural aspects of work. These include improving wages, providing secure contracts, giving employees some flexibility and control over their work schedule, and providing opportunities for upskilling and mentorship.

Kevin Teoh and Rashi Dhensa-Kahlon from Birkbeck looked at wellbeing interventions for workers in the NHS and came up with a remarkable result: similar conclusion. The most effective way to improve well-being in healthcare workplaces was to reduce pointless bureaucratic procedures, reduce meeting lengths, improve staff schedules and give employees a sense of psychological safety in their teams. My colleague Amanda Goodall has identified an important way organizations can improve wellbeing: improving quality of frontline managers. Getting rid of David Brent-style bosses and providing good training to managers can significantly improve employee well-being.

Most workplaces are not temples of wellness. In some cases they can be the exact opposite. Furthermore, many of the interventions employers routinely use to supposedly improve employee well-being don’t seem to make a difference – or in some cases can even make matters worse. The good news for leaders and employees is that we know what works; Instead of investing in ineffective initiatives, leaders should focus on eliminating stressors. This means getting rid of unnecessarily complicated systems, poorly trained managers and – in some cases – ineffective wellbeing interventions.

• André Spicer is professor of organizational behavior at Bayes Business School at City, University of London. He is the author of the book Business nonsense